


Take Care

by phoenixwings



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Gender Identity, Gender Issues, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Omega Victor Nikiforov, Scenting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-27
Updated: 2017-01-27
Packaged: 2018-09-20 04:28:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9475712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoenixwings/pseuds/phoenixwings
Summary: Yuuri Katsuki is an alpha.He hates it.Growing up, he never thought he’d present as anything. Classmates would talk about what they wanted to be — in hushed tones, since it wasn’t considered a polite subject for children—and could spend hours discussing why they were so sure they were an alpha or how this one thing that happened this one time definitely meant they were an omega.Yuuri just wanted biology to leave him alone.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Never in a million years did I think I'd write something a/b/o, but apparently my inspiration does not stop when it comes to these two.  
> I wasn't exactly sure how to tag to warn for this, but a big head's up that the major theme of this one-shot is Yuuri not identifying with his secondary gender in this verse.
> 
> [ Spanish Translation ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14820692) and a big thank you to CornerStone1 for translating this work!

“My heat is coming up,” Victor says casually one day after practice, because that’s how the Russian man does everything from hopping on a plane to Japan to announcing he’ll be Yuuri’s coach. Victor says it so off-hand that Yuuri almost doesn’t catch the implications at first and stumbles over his skates when he realizes what Victor said.  
  
Victor looks at him as he rights himself, a bemused expression on his face. “You thought I was an alpha, didn’t you?”  
  
Yuuri had tried not to think about it at all. He hated thinking about his own secondary gender enough, much less anyone else’s, no matter who they were. Yuuri decides not to answer and just shrugs. “When?”  
  
Victor hums thoughtfully. “It should be about a week after the Cup of China, so we’ve got some time. Do you think your parents would mind it terribly if I nested at their place?”  
  
Yuuri blinks. “You’re going to spend your heat alone?” Victor’s room is far enough from the guests rooms that he shouldn’t disturb anybody, but Yuuri just never figured Victor as someone who would spend a heat alone. Yuuri knew he must get dozens of offers from alphas only too willing spend a heat with an omega like Victor.  
  
“Who else would I spend it with?” Victor asks, and Yuuri swallows around the lump in his throat. It’s definitely his own projection that makes him think Victor looks a bit . . . hopeful. But that’s a dangerous line of thought to go down. Victor doesn’t even know Yuuri’s secondary gender. He probably figures Yuuri’s a beta.  
  
When Yuuri doesn’t answer, Victor throws him one of those dazzling smiles that always make him go a bit weak in the knees and pulls an arm around Yuuri to lead them home from the rink. Victor chitchats idly, as per usual, and it distracts Yuuri from Victor’s earlier announcement.  
  
Yuuri tries very, very hard not to think about it at all once again. 

* * *

  
Yuuri Katsuki is an alpha.  
  
He hates it.  
  
Growing up, he never thought he’d present as anything. Classmates would talk about what they wanted to be — in hushed tones, since it wasn’t considered a polite subject for children — and could spend hours discussing why they were so sure they were an alpha or how this one thing that happened this one time definitely meant they were an omega.  
  
Yuuri just wanted biology to leave him alone. The day he presented is still one of his worst memories, even higher than flubbing all his jumps at the last Grand Prix. He’d presented so late, too, just when he thought he was getting his wish. It wasn’t until a week before his eighteenth birthday that he woke up one morning with a new pressure between his legs and arousal curling deep in his gut.  
  
No one except his parents know this, of course. He’d certainly never planned on telling Victor.  
  
But after the cup of China, after the _kiss_ , after the knowledge that Victor’s heat is soon, it’s different. Yuuri gathers the courage to tell Victor one night, right after they fly back from Japan and they’re curled up in together in Yuuri’s room. They’ve been exploring more of each other lately, but Yuuri’s still hesitant. Victor seems to pick up on it and moves from exploring the skin along Yuuri’s hips with his lips to sitting back up and playing with his hair. Victor’s facing away from him, and Yuuri gathers his courage to talk. He’s afraid if he waits any longer, Victor will asks Yuuri to spend his heat together.  
  
He tells Victor everything, from his childhood desire to be a beta, only _ever_ a beta, to how he’s been suppressing any supposed alpha instincts for years. He talks about how he hates the idea that he’ll immediate want to jump any omega in heat, how upset it makes him that everyone around him assumes they know his desire based only on his anatomy.  
  
“Your scent’s not very strong,” Victor remarks when Yuuri finishes.  
  
“I’m on blockers,” Yuuri explains. “My doctor prescribes me high-dosage ones. And I take other medication too, so I can’t knot.”  
  
It had taken a lot of appointments for Yuuri’s doctor to even allow him that, since he wasn’t sexually active. It was only after it became apparent that it was affecting Yuuri psychologically that his doctor had actually started treating him. He still hates it, hates everything about being an alpha, but it’s a lot easier to manage when he doesn’t have to worry about a rut or every omega being able to smell him. There’s a lot of side effects with the medicine, from sterility to the insomnia he gets sometimes, but it’s worth the trade-off. It’s not like he ever wanted to father children anyway.  
  
A quiet falls over them. Yuuri can’t tell what Victor’s thinking, but at least Victor isn’t pushing him away or telling him he should “ _embrace his alpha instincts_ ”. Yuuri’s heard that one enough.  
  
“Victor. . . Do you like being an omega?” Yuuri asks eventually when the silence has gone from uncomfortable to relaxing. Victor leans up to give him a quick kiss before settling back down in Yuuri’s arms.  
  
“Yeah, I do,” Victor replies. “Growing up, everyone always thought I’d be an alpha, but I knew better. I don’t like the stereotypes or the bias, but I like it. It feels right.”  
  
“That must be nice,” Yuuri murmurs, and he’s sincere. He can’t begin to understand it, but he’s glad Victor’s happy. He’s glad Victor will never feel the way about his secondary gender that Yuuri does.  
  
Victor hums and presses a kiss to his hair. “It is,” He agrees. Victor fidgets and Yuuri thinks _oh no, here it comes_ and waits for Victor to tell him he’s wrong, or that they should share a heat to see if Yuuri really does like being an alpha after all, but Victor says none of those things. Instead, he asks, “Yuuri, will you build my nest with me?”  
  
Yuuri’s breath catches in his throat. He knows what Victor’s question means. Building a nest together is often considered the height of intimacy for an omega, even more than sharing a heat. Once again, Victor’s meeting him where he is. Yuuri’s beginning to suspect he always will.  
  
“Yeah,” Yuuri says quietly, “I’d like that a lot.”

* * *

  
  
Yuuri keeps to his room for the first day of Victor’s heat. Victor can’t go to the rink, understandably, but Yuuri could still practice without him.  
  
He doesn’t want to. At first, he bristles at how reluctant he is to leave Victor, because that’s an alpha instinct, but then he realizes — no. His desire to be close to Victor has nothing to do with biology, but with his heart. Because he cares about Victor, _here_ , as he is, and not the idealized version that graced his bedroom walls growing up, and Victor is vulnerable right now. Yuuri goes for a run in the morning, but after that hovers around. He doesn’t disturb Victor, but he does leave a couple of sandwiches outside the door for Victor to eat during the lulls of his heat.  
  
It’s early evening when Victor slips into Yuuri’s room. He looks tired, but happy, and he’s obviously recently showered. Yuuri can smell the faint scent of omega, but it isn’t as strong as it was when he passed by Victor’s room earlier. Water droplets fall from Victor’s bangs onto a loose-fitting gray t-shirt and Yuuri finds himself thinking it's adorable.  
  
Victor pauses in the doorway of Yuuri’s room. “Yuuri, can I scent you?” He asks.  
  
“Yeah,” Yuuri says, putting his phone down. He sits up on his bed and holds his arms out. It’s been less than a day, but Yuuri’s desperate for contact. Victor looks amused.  
  
“I’m normally the one giving hugs,” He says as he crawls on Yuuri’s bed with him. He buries his face in the crook of Yuuri’s neck and inhales. Yuuri rests his hand on the Victor’s shoulder and squeezes gently. “You smell so good.”  
  
“I’m surprised you can smell anything at all, with my blockers.”  
  
“You don’t smell like an alpha,” Victor says, rubbing his nose into Yuuri’s skin, “You smell like you. It’s fantastic.”  
  
That piques Yuuri’s curiosity. He leans forward, scenting at Victor’s skin. Victor, still in the middle of his heat, does have the same omega-scent that’s never done anything for Yuuri. But there’s another layer underneath of something sweeter that’s undeniably pure Victor, and _that_ does something for Yuuri. It still doesn’t make him yearn to tear at Victor’s clothes and push down onto the bed, like all the romantic comedies Yuuri’s ever seen would make him believe. It doesn’t even make Yuuri want to kiss Victor, as much as he likes doing that. Instead, it makes him feel safe and warm. Yuuri could easily stay like this for hours.  
  
Yuuri rubs circles on Victor’s back, and the other man groans into it. Yuuri can tell Victor’s muscles are probably tight and sore from taking care of his heat by himself earlier.  
  
“I could fall asleep like this,” Victor says, the truth of his statement backed up by a yawn.  
  
“Then do,” Yuuri says, and presses a kiss to his cheek. Yuuri knows that Victor will slip back to his own room if he’s struck by another wave of his heat, but for now there’s no reason Victor shouldn’t fall asleep in Yuuri’s arms.

* * *

  
Victor never calls him an alpha. Ever. He’ll tease Yuuri sometimes by saying things like _“you’re so mean to your omega_ ” when Yuuri ribs him about the time he slipped on the ice because he got so distracted watching Yuuri’s routine, and he has no problems referring to himself as Yuuri’s omega—he seems to love it, in fact—but he’s careful to never call Yuuri an alpha.  
  
Yuuri doesn’t even notice it at first, because Victor manages to avoid it so naturally. It’s another careful consideration in their relationship that they both tread around delicately. Yuuri used to think having to do that would be exhausting, but with Victor it’s not so bad. Their relationship— their _marriage_ — is work, and bad days are scattered throughout, but the good far outweigh them.  Whenever Yuuri gets frustrated at having to navigate the complex threads of his desire and what it means, he thinks of Victor’s smile and the soft exchange of words that’s just for the two of them, and he’s reminded just how much it’s worth it.  
  
From the beginning, it’s been an unspoken agreement that they’re not physically intimate during Victor’s heats. They fool around sometimes, but anything that verges too closely on traditional alpha and omega dynamics makes Yuuri uncomfortable, and Victor never pushes. Yuuri helps Victor build his nest whenever a heat is near, and then sleeps on the couch for the duration of it.  
  
 Once, after Victor has a particularly lengthy heat, Yuuri offers to share the next one, but starts hyperventilating at the idea before he can even finish his sentence. Tears gather in the corner of his eyes and he hates his weakness, that he can’t even do this for his omega, but Victor just holds him close until he’s done sobbing. It’s his first night back in their bed since Victor’s heat ended, and he can’t help but to think that Victor must be disappointed in how they’re spending it.  
  
“Don’t you want someone who will take care of you during your heats?” Yuuri asks from where he’s pressed into Victor’s chest. “Any alpha would want you.”  
  
“Who says I’m not taken care of?” Victor asks.  
  
“I don’t — I don’t —” Yuuri starts, but Victor cuts him off.  
  
“You make sure I eat and drink. You make sure I shower, you wash my clothes, you let me scent you whenever I want, you spend an insane amount of money on toys for my heat so I’m never uncomfortable. You help me build my nest every time. You make my heats good. Not ‘any alpha’ would do that,” Victor says firmly. Yuuri looks up with a shaky smile. Not for the first time, Yuuri finds himself grateful his husband is just as stubborn as he is.  
  
“Still,” Yuuri says, sniffling a little, “I’m sorry I’m a bad alpha.” He knows that this emotional outburst is probably another side effect of his blockers, because he’s had to switch brands recently, but that knowledge doesn’t make it any easier to deal with it. He just gets more anxious thinking about how it's unfair to Victor to put all this on him so soon after a heat.  
  
 “You’re not a bad alpha. You’re the best beta husband I could ask for.”  
  
Yuuri doesn’t realize he’s crying again until he feels a tear land on his thigh.  
  
“Did I say the wrong thi—”  
  
Yuuri cuts him off with a shake of his head and smiles through his tears. “No.” He doesn’t know how to say in words that it was the exact right thing to say, the thing he always wanted to hear and never realized until this moment, so instead he caresses Victor’s cheek and adores how Victor leans into the touch. "I love you."  
  
“I love you too,” Victor says, like Yuuri knew he would. It’s an exchange they’ve had a thousand times before, and they’ll have a thousand times again. The count doesn’t matter, because Yuuri cherishes every one. He shifts up on his knees so he can lean forward and bury his face in Victor’s neck. As he has from the very beginning, Victor smells like home.

**Author's Note:**

> Here's [my Tumblr](https://burningphoenixwings.tumblr.com) if that's your thing.


End file.
